captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> this is "the journal." >> here are the headlines this hour. extensive fighting across libya. european aerospace giant eds issues a confident forecast. you're in politics, the ash wednesday mixture for the german political parties. we will listen in. more fighting words from muammar gaddafi. wednesday he said that his people would take up arms if a no-fly zone is imposed. on the ground, state television claims that his forces are

seating areas from the rebels in the east and west. our coverage begins in the eastern oil port. >> there has been heavy fighting in eastern libya with rebel forces using rocket launchers and take missiles, all of the artillery that they have to stop the advance of government forces. rebels have little defense against the air strikes. plumes of smoke in the distance mark bombardments. reports that a huge oil facility was the amount of the targets. government troops have claimed advances on several fronts in the east and west of tripoli. the initial euphoria amongst the rebels appears to have given way to the sobering reality that the regime will not be toppled as easily as those in neighboring countries.

>> there appears to be a plot against libya. a determination to take control of libya and steal its oil. then the libyan people will take up arms against them. in the rebel-held switch -- city of benghazi, people took to the streets to demonstrate for intervention. it wanted the international community to impose a no-fly zone over libya. to stop the air strikes against their own people. let's i spoke to the correspondent in the east of the country and asked him how important a no-fly zone would be. >> fighters and opposition leaders say that it is critical.

of course, the airport is gaddafi's greatest asset here. making eastargets for his planes. >> earlier today you were in an area that was under heavy bombardment. describe what you saw. >> a frenzy of activity, relatively inexperienced with no formal training, they had towards this front-line where the main fighting happening. in the desert they are attempting to keep forces from the largest oil terminal. just after we left a firefighter -- a jet bombed a fire station

nearby. >> what about the gaddafi assertion that foreign powers are behind the rebels. do you get any sense of that? >> i have no sense of that. all that i know is that the opposition leaders i have met adamantly insist that no foreign troops beyond libyan soil. but they are also increasingly calling this not so much a revolution but a civil war. what they're asking for, inrvenon from thair. >> thank you very much, tom. now to egypt, authorities in

cairo said that cops in question took to the streets. members of the christian minority protestshat on wednesday calling for police protection, christians and muslims set aside after they joined the uprising last month. >> weeks ago militants were united in their opposition. demonstrating together on the central square. tuesday violence erupted in cairo when at least 1000 christians gathered to protest the burning of a church. this placard reads -- we want equality. >> we need lot -- we need laws that punishes anyone who has

published a rigid our religion teaches forgiveness. >> there is a large -- long history of tension here. it appears that hopes of reconciliation in the wake of the revolution may have been premature. >> large numbers of protesters took to the streets on wednesday. their numbers swelled after the shooting one day earlier. demonstrators called for a resignation. there were reports of clashes and almost 30 people have died so far in protest. pitting the administration demanded his removal. in pakistan a suicide bomber has killed at least 37 people attending a funeral in the northwest of the country.

a family member of a pro- government tribal leader, the taliban says that they carry out the attack one day after 26 people were killed in a car bombing. that bombing was also claimed by the taliban. 2010 was the deadliest year so far for civilians in afghanistan. a record high. insurgents responsible for three-quarters of the killing, while assassinations of government officials doubled. the top u.s. and nato commanders in afghanistan said that washington are beginning to reduce force size in the country.

steven is here with very good numbers for ejs. >> a pretty big come back with a fleet of good news revealed. the airbus company said that they returned to profit in the fourth quarter last year. forecasting higher revenue for the current year, they said they expected stronger revenue last year. the short-term version is that they have managed to move beyond big problems with several key programs. >> the boss had every reason to looked pleased as he announced full year results. the company posted and the outlook is good. >> the best way in the future is clearly cash.

improved dramatically in 2010. >> the aircraft maker, airbus, demonstrates the lot -- the lion's share. they want to spend more on acquisitions. luckily we are in the situation where airbus is expanding. business is developing nicely while at the same time we see growth possible in other areas. in security, defense electronics, and services. we want to go -- growth through internal investments. >> executives said that their business strategy would not be affected by a dispute over shareholder structure. the recently announced it wanted to sell their stake in the company.

>> they have moved closer to their goal of expanding, in particular spending a lot on defense procurement. liberating them from the risk of currency fluctuations. >> from the manufture to the operator, lufthansa is also flying high. after last year's volcanic ash " -- cloud, they have had a game as opposed to the loss in the previous year's. this year over 13,000 flights per week. the world's second-largest power group has posted a 37% drop in net profits in 2010. one of the reasons the dip is so

dramatic is because of the stellar showing in 2009. because of their asset sales. >> they get most of their assets from russia. now the its plot -- the supply exceeds demand. the result is a 1 billion euro loss for the company. >> the energy giant is also facing the new nuclear fuel tax. >> we have consolidated all of our units. during this time we will lay the groundwork for fully developing strategy in 2013. >> what it means in real terms is restructuring.

50 billion euros over the next two years. this could free market. >> batons the shares have grown in -- lufthansa shares have grown. our correspondent sent us a summary of the day's trading in frankfurt. >> success has been rated on wednesday. the question is now -- how stable is european government that really? -- debt really? also the credit worthiness of american public that sectors. how broke might the u.s. really be? that makes investors nervous. no wonder, german acts alone are

estimated to hold $50 billion of u.s. state and municipal bonds. >> we can stay for a closer look at the market. the 50 index on the euro zone was at three tenths of 1%. across the atlantic, a slight drop in prices. at this hour it is trading pretty much flat. trading at this hour of the value of one u.s. dollar. the train drivers' union has launched another strike, focusing on freight transport, they are set to continue until 10:00 a.m..

the union is demanding that rail providers provide higher pay guarantees. it remains unclear if and when strike action willffect passenger trai. the world's leading travel expo is opening stores to the public in berlin. accompanied by other dignitaries, including the polish president. poland is the featured country this year, promoting itself as one of the coasts of next year's european soccer championships. speeches and beer were flowing. >> that is how it works in germany. but important holiday marking the beginning of lent, it is

also a day when political parties spared. the most recentcandal is the defense minister who resigned over plagiarism. it got plenty of play. >> the disgraced minister called for the former defense minister to return to the political stage quickly. >> you are one of us, we want to back in german politics. >> at the event in eastern germany, angela merkel came out in defense of the minister, accusing the opposition party of hypocrisy. >> we do not have to except lessons in decency and honesty in politics.

not from the likes of them. >> meanwhile, the main opposition scorned support of gutenberg after the allegations of plagiarism. >> she is in china and complaints about intellectual property? even the most polite chinese have trouble ccealg. >> rhetorical lives are often out on ash wednesday. thursday they will return to their more measured debate style. >> space shuttle discovery is officially out of service. it landed on wednesday, wrapping up its last mission after 20 years. the remaining two shuttles will soon also be shelved. back after one minute.>> welcom.

how do attract tourists? especially when your country is in the middle of the revolution? that is what several north africans are talking about. that is what everyone is talking about this week in berlin. do people stay away? local economies face economic ruin it they do. they are offering drastic price reductions to win back customers. we decided to go to the airport and ask vacationers where they are going and why they decided for or against these destinations. >> to be booked egypt, now we

have booked again. >> all of the of people is just a matter of time. i would go there. >> i would not do it. there is not enough of an incentive for me. >> by german colleagues went anyway and they were happy and content, saying that they had never had such a nice holiday. >> i have been to tunisia and morocco. i do not know if human rights arheld in high esteem there. but they are not the worst countries. >> there are so many other

activities going on. it is crazy to boycott a place just because of violations. >> i have been to china i cannot say that human rights are respected there. on the other hand, i did not go to south africa until apartheid was ended. >> vacationers, tourists, they can see what is going on in the country. i think that they can have an effect >> i usually go on holiday in europe. >> the travel advisory to egypt

issued by european countries have been lifted. tourism remains skittish in heading towards the land of the pharaohs. egypt has begun to be brand itself as a post-revolutionary vacation destination. some advertisers even offer tourists the opportunity to create a better country by spending money to sustain the economy. it remains to be seen if these campaigns will work. in the meantime the egyptians that depend on tourism suffering. hardship goes beyond people. >> this camel might be in pain, but it is lucky that is being treated for an abscess. veterinarians brought feet for the animals, many of which have not been getting enough food since the tourists stopped coming.

>> that means that people here have no income when they cannot feed their animals. yesterday i saw a woman but 12 children. two horses had died. to camels were purchased on credit. she could not even field -- feed her children. >> dozens of horses and camels have already died. this woman grew up in egypt but now lives in austria. she has come back to work with an animal welfare group. convinced that the recent revolution will be good for the country. >> i have been living abroad for 25 years now. >> since the 25th of january i think they will learn arabic. >> the spirit of the revolution

is felt everywhere, especially with students that volunteer their help. >> they came to me on their own. i can picture a lot happening here over the next 10 to 20 years. it is like the political change in bulgaria and romania. no one thoughthat it was possible but i thought there is a real chance. >> 3000 horses and camels are accommodated. one or two animals. others are one in 40. as a breeder he is not so directly dependent on tourists. each course will get 10 kilos per day, these days he can only afford seven. the bare minimum. >> we have expenses. today i might have enough money, but tomorrow i might not.

and we have a lot of employees. i cannot tell them to leave because we do not have any money at the moment. >> on a normal day,housands of tourists would be here, vising the great pyramids. without tourists, local businesses have no income. economists fear of huge losses of revenues because of the current crisis. >> despite that, i think we will be able to recover losses if we can increase the number of tourists coming to egypt. because tourists which egypt well. and they will be impressed by our young people. >> the revolution in the square has raised hopes that reform is under way in egypt.

they hope that it will extend to the tourism industry. under the ousted regime the industry was organized to benefit a small number of people. now many are demanding reforms that will result in fairer distribution of the money brought in by tourists. >> i expect there will be much less corruption in tourism investment. that will have a positive impact on the egyptian economy. and it will attract both domestic and foreign investors. >> those hopes are shared by many of those who have the most to gain from reforms. people like muhammad asur, who thinks that egypt will become more popular with foreign tourists.

>> right now we have no tourists. but everything will be getting better. it does not matter that we have some problems now. when the tourists come back, they will see the difference. life after this transition will be better. >> that optimism is evident in many parts of egypt today. it seems that everyone, from poor laborers to devote prospers feel better that things are coming their way. but thatas our in-depth report on tourism in a time of revolution. for all of this year, thank you for the company. -- us here, thank you for the company.